Defence lawyers for Michael Jackson filed a motion for acquittal yesterday on the grounds that the prosecution, which earlier rested its case, had failed to prove the singer's child abuse and conspiracy charges.

The defence motion will be heard first thing today, as the trial of the pop star moves into its second phase.

The district attorney, Tom Sneddon, closed his case after more than two months of dramatic testimony in which his team sought to prove that the pop star molested a teenage cancer patient and conspired to hold the boy's family captive at his estate.

Their last witness was a man who used to work for a Jackson associate. Rudy Provencio acknowledged during cross-examination that before testifying he wrote in changes to a law enforcement interview he gave to implicate Jackson in the conspiracy.